Introduction
Summary from book cover:
He was Tsar Nickolas II of Russia: The wealthiest monarch in the world, ruled over 130 million people and one-sixth of the land's surface, yet turned a blind eye to the abject poverty of his subjects.
She was Empress Alexandra: stern, reclusive, and painfully shy, a deeply religious woman obsessed with the corrupt mystic Rasputin.
Their daughters were the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia: completely isolated and immature, girls who wore identical white dresses and often signed joint letters OTMA, the initials of their first names.
Their only son was Tsarevich Alexei: youngest of the Romanovs, heir to the throne, a hemophiliac whose debilitating illness was kept secret from the rest of the world.
Task
This Webquest is going to give you some background information on Russia language and other aspects about the Russian Empire- especially under the Romanovs Rule.
Background Information: Okay I'm gonna tell you some facts about Russia language such as what a Tsar is and what a Tsarevich is and what those other words I mentioned in the intro:
Vocab:
Tsar or Emperor(the titles are interchangeable) : Ruler of Russia, this mean "Cesear"
tTsarista or Empress: The wife of the ruler of Russia
Tsarevich: Heir to the Throne
Grand Dukes: this is what the other sons would be called
Grand Duchesses: this is what the daughters would be called
Prince/Princess: Tsar's grandchildren are given this title
Process
http://historyofrussia.org/russian-empire-timeline/
This source is a timeline of Russia History. This is useful because during this book a lot happens over a span of so many years, so it was nice having it all laid out here. I think that this helps to keep everything that happens in the right order. I also found a few pages about Alexandra Romanov and Rasputin so I thought I would link them below. They give some information that the book doens't as well as just highligting the main points. http://historyofrussia.org/alexandra-romanov/ and http://historyofrussia.org/rasputin-facts/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Nikolaevich,_Tsarevich_of_Russia#H…
My second source talks about the illness that Alexei had.The wikipedia page gives the background on how he got the illness as well, this page also talks about his childhood- how he lived with the illness and how his family handled him having this thing. In the book, they talk about how no one outside their home ever knew about him being sick.
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWi…
My third source gives more background on what the Russian Empire is, and goes over what type of government this empire was, it also gives information on the different political parties and factions that live in Russian, as well as listing some major events that happened in Russia. It just has so much information about Russia and the way that the Empire works that it seems useful to look at during/after reading this book.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Romanov
My fourth source talks about the whole Romanov family. it goes through how they rose to power, the dynasitic crisis that occured during their rule, the downfall of this empire, talks about Alexei in more detail as well, it lists a family tree (while the book does as well, it might be usedul to have it pulled up on your computer while reading.
http://www.britannica.com/topic/Romanov-dynasty
My fifth source talks about the Romanov Dynasty, which is useful for this book because it goes into more detail on other aspects of the dynasty than the book does.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_the_Romanov_family
my last source goes into more detail on the death of the Romanov family. it talks about the people who killed them and while it might not seem important, while I was reading this book I was a bit confused on who they were and how it happened so this gave me a better idea.
Conclusion
Things to Think About after Reading This Book:
1. If Nicholas hadn't abandoned Russia when it clearly needed him, would things have ended differently?
2. If Nicholas had not dismantled the Duma
3. some parts of the story are told by an unknown narrator, would it make the story different had it been told in a different point of view?
4. After reading this book and looking at these resources, (if you knew the story) did your view on this story change? (If you didnt know the story) what do you think about this story?
Credits
For the Vocab: I looked at the "chapter" titled Before You Begin
For the links that are on the Process tab:
"Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Romanov Dynasty."Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
"Execution of the Romanov Family." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
"House of Romanov." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
"Russian Empire Timeline." History of Russia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
"Russian Empire." World History in Context. Gale Encyclopedia, 2008. Web. 9 May 2016.